Associated Press

Vivica A. Fox is one fit actress. "When we were doing 'Kill Bill,' me and Daryl Hannah used to have contests, where we'd drop and do 100 in less than a minute," she says.

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Podcast

• Pete talks with Viveca Fox about her career, her sexy name and her onetime relationship with 50 Cent

Photo gallery

• From her lunch at Blue 5

See her perform

"Whatever She Wants"

• Who: With Vivica A. Fox, Richard Roundtree and Malik Yoba
• When: 8 p.m. Tuesday
• Where: Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre, at the Roanoke Civic Center
• Call: 853-5483
• Tickets: $30.50 and $34.50

I'm Ready Productions

Richard Roundtree (left) plays Fox's aggravated father who just wants to see his daughter find a good man in the stage production of "Whatever She Wants."

Vivica A. Fox is an actress who, for a large portion of her career, has made people think about sex. This is clear because if you had Googled the words "Vivica A. Fox" and "sex" this past Thursday, you would have received 634,000 results.

Her breakout role was as Will Smith's exotic-dancer girlfriend in 1996's "Independence Day." The year after, she was a "chocolate seductress" in "Batman & Robin."

Then she dated 50 Cent (11 years her junior) in a high-profile relationship that led to a feud over her hotness after their breakup.

"50 Cent likes to think he made me sexy," Fox told reporters at a BET Awards show in 2004. "I just had to get that out in the universe and let him know that no, he did not."

But Fox never wanted her sex appeal to define her performances. She has played the businesswoman and the bank robber. She has shot guns, most memorably as the assassin Vernita Green in "Kill Bill Vol. 1." "A lot of people don't realize that I can be funny," she said.

Now the Indiana-born Fox is 43, and, while she has portrayed mothers for years, she's getting parts for women with more experience and authority.

"Versatility is the key," Fox said. "It equals longevity, as far as I'm concerned."

Which may explain the film star's taking a stage role Tuesday at the Roanoke Civic Center. In the traveling production "Whatever She Wants," Fox plays the jaded and lovelorn Vivian Wolf, who starts a social club where men have to qualify to get in (bad credit and pot bellies are no-nos).

Vivian's disapproving father (Richard Roundtree of "Shaft") wants to see his daughter matched up, cuing the entrance of new interest Julian Heaven (Malik Yoba). Humor and drama ensue, with a little music (notably from Gary "Lil G" Jenkins, of Silk).

This week, Fox called from Washington, D.C., to talk about her name, stomach crunches and carrying on the booty.

Q: I want to start with your name. You've been a sex symbol for most of your career, and I can't help thinking it helps to have the last name Fox.

It definitely helps out. It kind of works hand in hand, I mean that wasn't my goal when I became an actress that that would be what I was known for, but over the years it's evolved into that. I'm very blessed that it's my given birth name. My given birth name is Vivica Anjanetta Fox.

Q: Talking about names, in "Whatever She Wants" you play Vivian Wolf, which is a name that sounds a lot like your own. And Vivian is 40 and single. Is this role a natural fit for you?

When I first got the script and saw the character's name was Vivian Wolf, I was like, "That's clever." [Writer Je'Caryous Johnson] structured the script around my strengths. ... It's worked out wonderful that Vivian Wolf is a very strong, charismatic character that has a lot of fun. And learns lessons of love.

Q: Also in "Whatever She Wants" is the actor Richard Roundtree, who will always be known for playing "Shaft" in the movie series from the '70s. Do you have a character that defines your career?

Actually, no. That was a conscious choice I made, to not always play the same character. A lot of people do identify with "Two Can Play that Game." But people don't walk up to me and call me Shante. ... I can tell you the top four that people always mention to me: "Independence Day," "Two Can Play that Game," "Set it Off" and "Kill Bill."

Q: After "Independence Day," you said in an interview, "It's nice that black brothers have someone who they can say, 'Yes, we've got a sex symbol who's our own.' " Ten years later, do you see more black sex symbols?

Oh, absolutely. You've got Gabrielle Union, who the guys are totally digging. Meagan Good's doing a great job. ... Some of the girls from the show "Girlfriends," Tracee Ellis Ross is doing a really good job. The girls are carrying on the torch, carrying on the booty.

Q: Another project for you this month is Loretta on "Curb Your Enthusiasm." The HBO comedy isn't always scripted so there's a lot of room for improv. Is it intimidating feeling like you have to be funny, especially when you're with a funny man like Larry David?

The first couple shows definitely were intimidating. His humor is so different from my brand of humor. But after about the third or fourth show, you got used to his style of what they do.

Q: So putting your cigarette out in his cake. Was that planned or did you just come up with that?

No, that was planned.

Q: Another notable performance for you was playing the assassin Vernita Green in "Kill Bill." How do you prepare for kung fu fighting?

The beautiful thing is that -- well, it wasn't beautiful at the time, just beautiful when it got to the screen.

Actually being trained for six months was torturous. All I did for six months was workout and learn tae-kwon-do and do the stunts and learn the choreography. We were really blessed that we had a wonderful master by the name of Master Woo-ping, who was from "The Matrix" and other good movies.

Q: So you stay in pretty good shape?

Oh, yes. Got up and worked out this morning.

Q: What's your routine?

Gosh, a lot of cardio, light weights. A lot of abs. And definitely stretching.

Q: I saw you on "Ellen" -- this was probably four years ago -- and you challenged her to a duel of belly crunches. How many belly crunches can you do?

I can do a lot of them. When we were doing "Kill Bill," me and Daryl Hannah used to have contests, where we'd drop and do 100 in less than a minute. It would be crazy. Every day we'd do about 500 sit-ups.

Q: Could you beat her?

Sometimes she'd beat me, sometimes I'd beat her. Daryl Hannah seems very willowy, but she's in excellent shape.

Q: A few years ago you had a high-profile relationship with the rapper 50 Cent. I was listening to his song "P.I.M.P." last week, and I thought that he would probably be a hard man to love.

He wasn't difficult to love, he was actually very romantic, and he was a nice guy. It was just, we should have not went public so fast. That was the lesson that I think the both of us learned. We were just so excited about dating each other and happy that we wanted to tell the world. It backfired. ... I've learned to keep my love life private.

Q: After "Independence Day" came out, you and Will Smith won an MTV Movie Award for "Best Kiss." I was wondering if there's a difference between kissing a rapper with a clean mouth and a rapper with a dirty mouth.

There was no difference. They were both great kissers.